Marbled Salamander: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Newts and Salamanders · day 3 of 7

Five facts

1. Under ultraviolet light, marbled salamanders glow along the bones of their digits, and their mucus-like secretions fluoresce green.
2. A female often stays with her eggs, wrapping her body around them to form a shallow bowl that holds water over them.
3. A courting male nudges a female's vent with his snout, hoping she responds. Their back-and-forth nudging looks like a dance.
4. Most marbled salamanders go back to breed in the pond where they hatched, but a few trek more than 1,000 m to reach a new one.
5. Under attack, marbled salamanders may lash their tail, head-butt or coil, moves thought to draw attention to the tail's noxious glands.

The quiz

1. What colour do the marbled salamander's mucus-like secretions fluoresce?

• Green (correct)
• Pink
• Blue
• Yellow

Under ultraviolet light, its mucus-like secretions fluoresce green.

2. How does a mother form a shallow bowl over her eggs?

• She digs a hole
• She piles up leaves
• She wraps her body around them (correct)
• She uses mud

She wraps her body around the eggs to form a shallow bowl that holds water over them.

3. What does the courtship nudging look like?

• A fight
• A race
• A hunt
• A dance (correct)

The pair circle each other, nudging back and forth, so it looks like a dance.

4. How far may some salamanders travel to find a new breeding pond?

• Over 10 meters
• Over 100 meters
• Over 1,000 meters (correct)
• Over 10,000 meters

A few trek more than 1,000 meters to reach a new breeding pond.

5. What are the tail-lashing and coiling moves thought to do?

• Draw attention to the tail's noxious glands (correct)
• Hide the head
• Call for help
• Warm the body

These moves seem to steer a predator toward the tail, where glands make nasty-tasting secretions.

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